Hidden Allergens: Pink Peppercorns, Tree Nut Allergies and how an Amazon Reviewer Helped Solve a Mystery
Pink peppercorns seemed like an innocuous ingredient until they almost killed my daughter. I’m so thankful for an Amazon reviewer for solving the mystery for us.
Originally published February 20, 2014
The information about this hidden allergen is extremely important to share among the nut allergic community and I continually thank the Amazon reviewer who solved a mystery for us.
This post about pink peppercorns could very well save many lives; maybe even the life of someone you know.
My daughter has a severe tree nut allergy,* meaning if she ingests any form of tree nuts, she will stop breathing (anaphylaxis) and die. Even a trace could do the deed–it’s that severe.
Discovering that my daughter was allergic to tree nuts (she was 4)
We learned this the hard way when she was four years old. Denisa ate a chocolate Christmas ornament which was filled with a hazelnut paste. I cannot adequately describe to you what it feels like, and the terror that fills every part of your being when you hear your child barely choke out the words, “I can’t breathe”, and to see her gasping for air.
I immediately called 911, and she was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. This was my family’s very first experience with any sort of allergy, and it was life-changing for all of us. Nuts were now a dreaded, dangerous and life-threatening food.
The incident at the restaurant
Fast forward 10 years: on the 4th of July, my daughter was at a restaurant at Disneyland with one of her best friends when I received a phone call from her friend’s mother. She told me that she thought my daughter had ingested some form of tree nuts, and was wondering whether to use the EpiPen (a shot of epinephrine) for her anaphylactic reaction.
Of course, I was petrified, and told her that my daughter had to be the one to make that decision.
Luckily, she ended up getting the nuts out of her system and the use of the EpiPen was averted. I’ve since read several news reports that prove that this doesn’t always happen. Sometimes there’s a death, instead of a happy ending. My daughter was incredibly fortunate.
PRINT THIS FOR TRAVELING WITH NUT ALLERGIES!
A mystery
At this point, the biggest problem was that the chef was baffled as to how this occurred, as he was certain that the Tortellini Alfredo and focaccia were nut-free. It was the only incident in which we had no idea what had caused her reaction. I spoke to the chef the next day, but there was still no luck in deducing what had instigated her anaphylaxis, so we were left with a mystery.
Mystery solved!
About two weeks after this incident, I was browsing peppercorns and pepper blends on Amazon.com, when I clicked on a Four Seasons Pepper Blend, which included pink peppercorns, or pepper berries. The first review caught my eye:
I couldn’t believe what I was reading, and wondered if the chef might have used this pepper blend in the pasta or focaccia that my daughter had eaten. I quickly did some research, and confirmed what the reviewer had posted. Pink peppercorns were in fact related to cashews!
Immediately, I called the restaurant, and began to ask the chef if he used this pepper blend. I hadn’t even finished asking the question, when he exclaimed, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” What a relief to finally know what had caused her reaction.
It’s disconcerting to think that we actually had a pepperberry tree in the backyard of our previous house, and I used to cut the berries and use them for various crafts. This is what the berries look like.
From Wikipedia:
Peruvian pepper (Schinus molle, also known as American pepper, Peruvian peppertree, escobilla, false pepper, molle del Peru, pepper tree, peppercorn tree, Californian pepper tree, pirul and Peruvian mastic.) is an evergreen tree that grows to 15 meters (50 feet). It is native to rhe Peruvian Andes. The bright pink fruits of Schinus molle are often sold as “pink peppercorns” although S. molle is unrelated to true pepper.
This information needs to be spread as widely as possible:
Pink peppercorns, pink pepperberries, pink berries, Peruvian pepper and whatever else they may be called, are related to CASHEWS and can cause an anaphylactic reaction in those who are allergic to CASHEWS/TREE NUTS.
Here’s what you can do to help spread the word:
- Forward this information to anyone you know who has a nut allergy. I have contacted Penzey’s Spices (who have still done nothing to label the warning 5 years later!) and other spice retailers to ask them to place this warning on their labels. If you can do the same thing, changes will happen more quickly, and hopefully avert potentially life-threatening allergic reactions in future (see update below: great news!)
- If you or your child has a nut allergy, make sure to ask at restaurants, at friends’ homes, and wherever your food is prepared if a pepper blend including pink pepper berries has been used. Inform them that the berries are related to tree nuts.
- Contact newspapers, local TV news, etc. to feature articles or segments on this information.
- Spread the info via social media; ask others to share, re-tweet, re-pin, etc.
- Translate the info into other languages, and share outside our borders.
- Pass on the information by word of mouth; you never know whose life you might save.
PLEASE click here to CHECK OUT THIS POST AS I HAVE DISCOVERED MORE HIDDEN ALLERGENS!
My concerns and some points to remember ~
* Many people throw the word “allergy” around loosely. Please be aware of how important it is that this term is used correctly.
It terrifies me that the server who is used to hearing guests order something “on-the-side” due to an “allergy”, notices they ate it anyway. Consequently, they won’t take allergies seriously anymore. Food Babe, who has hundreds and thousands of followers and has written books on the subject of food choices, advises her readers, “Go as far as telling the server you allergic to butter and dairy, soy and corn.”
I, and many others have commented on her post to tell her how this is endangering those who have LIFE-THREATENING allergies which occur within seconds. However, she refuses to remove this wording in her post. In fact, she banned me from her Facebook page when I wrote to tell her the consequences from her advice.
Many people don’t realize that simply touching nuts, and then touching other food is enough to cause anaphylaxis in some allergy sufferers, my daughter included. However, there are others whose allergies are even worse than hers. Think about the nuts being consumed in planes; it’s frightening.
UPDATED 10/19: I flew Norwegian airlines for the first time in June and was horrified at the filthy condition of the floor, including peanuts! I gave them another try this past week and guess what? The same conditions! Do they never clean their planes? This is unacceptable, especially for nut allergy sufferers!
Similarly, there is no barometer to measure or communicate how serious an allergy is. It’s completely open to interpretation. These things directly impact my daughter’s life and so many others’, too.
Finally, please be mindful of the impact that use of the word “allergy” can have.
UPDATE: my daughter attended Villanova University which has a “no nut” policy, which we didn’t discover until after we placed our deposit! I was elated. If you are concerned about your child going off to university with a nut allergy, besides being a top university, Villanova takes allergies extremely seriously. She graduated without an incident at the dining halls and restaurants.
pink peppercorns
“I wonder if the General Mills lady would have blown you off if she had a daughter with severe nut allergies?”
You are right. It is only people with severe allergies (and their moms :)… that understand how serious a nut allergy is. Thank you for this post. I have reposted it to many on FB, but I will also check my peppercorns! I’m a mom of 2 kids with epipens. One with a peanut/shrimp allergy and one with peanut/ tree nut allergy. The first isn’t very severe, however, because he has asthma he needs to carry an epipen to extend the treatment time window. His allergy could be desensitized (something the person from CT mentioned). However, my younger with the tree nut allergy is SO allergic to peanuts that she has had a reaction (asthma and hives) to someone eating peanut butter next to her and the latest reaction (asthma) was when she walked into a cookie store and they were cooking peanut cookies in the back!
Needless to say, we carry an emergency bag (pencil case) with an inhaler, epipen (and we use cetirizine – which works just as fast as Benedryl (the first generation drug) and it doesn’t mask her allergy symptoms with the tiredness / lethargy you can have with Dipenhydramine- (generic name for Benedryl). In the UK, (where my daughter was first diagnosed and had Dr Andrew Clark – top allergist for children in UK at Cambridge University), he has successfully desensitized children with nut allergies and he recommends Cetirizine (Zyrtec).
We received an action plan from the Dr which gave clear guidance as to when to just give the Cetirizine and when to give the Epipen. (Did you receive that from your allergist?) Thanks again.
I just passed your article on to my twin nephews (they’re 19yo now). As preschoolers, they were diagnosed with severe nut allergies.
Thank you, Rosie! Great to hear (that they now know about the dangers of pink peppercorns, not that they were diagnosed with severe nut allergies)! CC
Thank you so much for sharing your experience. My son has a severe tree nut allergy and knowledge is power so thank you for enlightening us! I shared on my FB page and hope others do as well since this is such as serious issue. Best, Vanessa
You are correct, Vanessa! Thank you for spreading the word, CC
My daughter has a nut allergy too and she has always insisted that Chex mix makes her tongue burn (the same way tasting nuts would). Now I’m wondering if the “spices” on the ingredients label includes pink peppercorns. Of course, the lady at General Mills blew me off when I called and asked because “if it had nuts in it, they would be indicated on the label.”
I wonder if the General Mills lady would have blown you off if she had a daughter with severe nut allergies? I highly doubt it. I bet that the 4 blend pepper could very well be the culprit in your daughter’s reaction to the Chex mix. Good luck, Kimberly!
As both an Emergency Department Registered Nurse and an anaphylactic reaction allergy sufferer, I would recommend that if your daughter has been prescribed an epi-pen, that she use it immediately upon feeling like she is having a reaction. Allergic reactions can change over time and epi is crucial to expand the treatment time window. Epinephrine does not actually treat the anaphylactic reaction. The other drugs they can give (Benadryl, zantac, steroids, ventolin etc.) will help to resolve the symptoms. If your daughter is experiencing a reaction, take the epi and then get her to a hospital. I’ve treated people that has not had full anaphylactic reactions before, but still prescribed an epi-pen require intubation because they didn’t use the epi-pen and get to the emergency department and the reaction had changed. Good luck with your daughter’s allergies. I would be in full support of legislation that supports full identification of allergens.
Thanks Jennifer, I actually took my daughter to an allergist today and he gave us more thorough instructions on the epipen. I do hope that labels become clearer in future, it’s such a matter of life and death. CC
I can’t thank you enough for sharing this critical information!!!! Two dear friends of mine just shared your posts with me and I will be forever grateful!! We found out just 3 weeks ago that my 8 year old son has a very severe, life threatening allergy to tree nuts!! It was the scariest day of my life because he suddenly started having an anaphylactic reaction to a new snack (which had cashews). I had never been around anyone having a reaction like this, but thank God I got him to the dr fast enough that he is ok! I am completely terrified and overwhelmed after finding this out!!! I know our lives have changed forever and know that I NEVER want to experience that kind of fear for either of us ever again! Thank you for sharing this information!!! Would love to contact you via email to get any other helpful insight in dealing with tree but allergies!
Hi Elizabeth, I am so sorry that you’ve had to join us in this terrible situation of being a mother of a child with severe allergies :( I can say that I know exactly how you felt, and I too hope we never have to experience that feeling ever again. I found out about my daughter’s allergy when she was 4 and she is now almost 17, and it wasn’t until I read all the comments on this post that it occurred to me to take her to an allergist! That would be my first advice to you. I am taking my daughter for her first appointment this morning. Please feel free to email me, you’ll find my contact info under the CONTACT tab on my homepage. Good luck to you and your son!
Thank you for this information. My husband is allergic to tree nuts. He had never had a serious reaction until about 10 years ago. He was in Phoenix on a business trip and he and his colleagues ate lunch at an Italian restaurant. He ordered something he has had many other times but at different restaurants. After eating lunch they got back into the car to continue their trip to a very small town in Arizona. Fortunately, they had some time to kill so his co-workers decided to stop at a local attraction. At this point my husband is already not feeling well but is not sure what is going on. He asks them to first stop at a drug store to get some Benadryl. He is sitting in the back seat and drinks the Benadryl but continues to feel worse. At this point he tells his co workers to take him to the hospital because he knows he is in trouble. They happen to notice a clinic right there and pull in and at this point have to carry him into the clinic. The nurses did not want to let him in but his friends push through and yell for a Dr. The Dr. took one look at him and administered two shots of epinephrin. The Dr. could not get any blood pressure and my husband was unconscious. Happily because of the persistence of his friends and the actions of the doctor my husband recovered quickly and didn’t even have to be admitted to the hospital. Here is the frustrating part. When I called the restaurant they would not give me a list of ingredients. Even after I explained the situation and told him we were just trying to determine what caused my husbands very violent reaction he still would not tell us. He assured me when I explained that he was allergic to nuts that there were no nuts in the items he ate. We were frustrated and completely baffled. Subsequent allergy blood testing did not show any new allergies. It has remained a mystery to us but has always made us nervous afraid the same thing could happen again. I think you may have solved the mystery. I wonder if this restaurant used a similar spice? Thank you
That is unbelievable, Mary Ann, for so many reasons! First of all, the restaurant is lucky your husband didn’t sue them for withholding the ingredients in something that almost killed him, and the nurse wouldn’t let your husband in when he was unconscious? Wow, people just don’t seem to understand how serious food allergies can be. I’m so glad your husband was with friends with common sense and who wouldn’t take no for an answer.
I would guess that the four blend pepper with the pink peppercorns could very well have been used in that restaurant, but at least now you know to alert wait staff in future, and tell them not to use it in your husband’s food if they indeed use it. Thank you for letting me know you got this information; as you can see from all the comments, I am very happy that so many nut-allergy sufferers are hearing this and passing it on to others. Good luck to your husband and I hope he never has such an experience again. CC
Thank you Christina- my son has a severe allergy and has been anaphylactic. I will forward this and print it for him. Thank you again. – Cheryl
Wonderful that you found the post, Cheryl! You are very welcome and thanks for passing it on! CC